'Friendship' threatens key housing markets

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The FHA 203k loan program provides home buyers the opportunity to buy and fix up a property, without exhausting their personal savings.

Cuba is becoming a hot market for investors as an embargo against U.S. investment could be lifted soon, opening up opportunities for the first time in more than 50 years, according to an Akerman U.S. Real Estate Survey.

“Nationally, foreign capital is having a heavy influence on global gateway cities,” Nelsen Kasdin, managing partner at Akerman’s Miami Office, said in a Miami Herald article recently. “What people are looking at now is sort of scoping out those opportunities when those (embargo) rules change.”

More than 180 executives were surveyed and the study found that investors were more optimistic about opportunities in Cuba as opposed to places like Venezuela and Argentina, a sign that they are becoming increasingly enticed by the potential despite the restrictions. Under U.S. law, an American cannot invest in real estate in Cuba.

As a result, investors are waiting in the wings for restrictions on direct investment to be lifted before plunging into the market. Nevertheless, policies passed earlier this year leaves room for investors to weigh their opportunities and explore their options.

While the embargo is almost sure to be lifted, there will still be a limit to the amount of property a foreigner can hold however the proliferation of cash that is sure to follow is expected to catapult Latin America as one of the world’s greatest investment hotspots. That interest would likely come at the expense of Florida and the Carolinas as snowbirds and other vacation-property investors look to Cuba instead.

“Nationally, foreign capital is having a heavy influence on global gateway cities,”Kasdin said.